Five things we learned in the William Hill Scottish Cup

Sunday 10 January 2016

It was an exciting weekend of action in the William Hill Scottish Cup fourth round. Despite two matches falling victim to the weather, 41 goals were scored, with five matches having four goals or more.

Here’s five things we learned after watching this weekend’s cup football:

1) An incredible performance from Annan

Annan Athletic of League 2 dismantled Hamilton Accies – a team 24 places above them in the SPFL pyramid – 4-1 at Galabank in what has to be seen as one of the biggest shocks in the Scottish Cup’s history. In a remarkable afternoon in the Borders for Jim Chapman’s side who netted four goals past EURO 2016-bound Michael McGovern, including two classy finishes from Rabin Omar. On the back of this result, they’ll fear nobody in Monday’s draw.

2) A barren run ends for the Jambos

When Hearts lifted the William Hill Scottish Cup on the 19th May 2012, few would have imagined it would take the Jambos a further 1,330 days for them to next score a goal in the competition. A header after three minutes from Callum Paterson against Aberdeen at Tynecastle broke that hoodoo, and it may propel Robbie Neilson’s team far in this season’s tournament.?

3) A significant win for Dundee United

It’s been a tough season for Dundee United supporters. Bottom of the table for most of the 2015/16 Premiership season, a relegation battle beckons for Mixu Paatelainen’s team. What has perhaps been most infuriating for the team has been their perceived inability to hold on to leads in matches in this campaign so far. That they managed to win through a lovely Blair Spittal free-kick – almost a replica from his strike in the Dundee derby last week – may provide them an opportunity to build momentum for the business end of the season.

4) Faissal El Bakhtaoui and Dunfermline have potential

The 2-2 draw between Dunfermline Athletic and Ross County emphasised the strong Pars team Allan Johnstone has built. Top of League 1 and with a victory over Dundee in the League Cup already under their belt, their performance against the Staggies in particular highlighted the skillfulness of Faissal El Bakhtaoui.

This won’t be of any surprise to anyone who has seen the French- Moroccan in action this season at East End Park – he’s scored 19 goals this season – but the way he hammered home past Scott Fox to equalise for the Pars suggests that he and Dunfermline have the potential to climb the leagues.

5) Could it be Hibs’ year?

Hibernian’s lack of success in the Scottish Cup is highly documented – they’ve not won the trophy since 1902 – but Saturday’s victory over Raith Rovers might be the beginning of the end for that particular statistic.

As the Rovers’ pointed out on Twitter over the weekend, the Fife team have been knocked out of the William Hill Scottish Cup the previous three seasons by the eventual winners (Celtic in 2013, St Johnstone 2014 and Inverness Caledonian Thistle in 2015). Could it be Hibs’ year? Who knows, but it could be an omen.